A short post on an inflatable spooky tree with pumpkins and ghosts seen in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, in October 2026.

Recalling that time I came down with chickenpox just a few months before the chickenpox vaccine was approved for usage in the United States.

Reviewing the month that was at The New Leaf Journal, Emu Cafe Social, and Newsletter Leaf Journal in June 2026.

Documenting an inflatable Christmas countdown clock seen in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, on September 29, 2026.

Syndicated version of Newsletter Leaf Journal issue 296, featuring links to new New Leaf Journal and Emu Cafe Social posts, links from around the web, and other news and notes.

I demonstrate that a well-curated collection of RSS/ATOM feeds can serve as an algorthm-free discovery mechanism by explaining how a visual novel blog pointed me to a Japanese crime story.

I participated in Robert Birming’s Junited 2026 and JulyReply 2026. Here on NLJ, I recap all of my posts from those projects and the links I shared.

A 2026 story of a snake in a football helment in Arkansas reminded me of that time in 1995 when an earthworm found its way into my shoe.

Reporting (loosely defined) on a free air conditioner with note seen in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Carroll Gardens.

Reviewing 12 very short visual novels from the O2A2 2026 – Only One of Any Asset Visual Novel Jam.

A long article announcing the release of my new ONScripter-EN visual novel, Under the Alien Sky, and talking about the development process.

Documenting an (artistic?) broken park bench seen on May 3, 2026, in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

A short article on re-filling my gingerbread man handsoap dispenser with Softsoap body wash for the second time.

A sppecial America 250 edition of The Newsletter Leaf Journal featuring links to new ECS posts and two new Independence Day-themed NLJ articles and links from around the web related to July 4th and America's 250th.

Announcing a project to celebrate America’s 250th at The New Leaf Journal in summer 2026.

It has been five days since the last edition of Pook-Emu Bee links. While I ordinarily publish links in the morning and it is now the evening, I submit some late links today to keep the backlog under control. Today (June 23, 2026) was primary election day in New York City. I did not have a primary to vote in, but I did take a photo. 1. Polymarket bet on deceptive social advertising: WSJ (Dave Lozo for Morning Brew. June 23, 2026.) The prediction markets aren’t upholding the highest standards of advertising integrity? Say it ain’t so! 2. “All-Consuming, Joyous, Heartbreaking” – Your Nintendo 64 Memories (Gavin Lane and Staff for Nintendo Life. June 22, 2026.) You can expect my own Nintendo 64 memories later this week. 3. Lefty owner of anti-Israel NYC coffee shop calls US ally ‘Nazi Germany of our time’ in hateful online outburst (Chris Nesi for the New York Post. June 23, 2026.) Last Friday, I noticed an Uzbek flag outside a coffee shop on Smith Street in Boerum Hill. I did not think much of it. Then I saw the photo of the Williamsburg location and put two-and-two together. With hope, it will soon be gone. 4. Matt’s Script Archive: The Scripts That Reshaped The Web (Ernie Smith at Tedium. June 22, 2026.) > But programmers who weren’t in high school and weren’t so wet behind the ears looked aghast at what Wright had done: He had spread poorly designed, but widely used software across the internet. This software was packed with security issues, but worst of all, it wasn’t really getting updated all that much. Neat history article but I don’t think I’ll run these scripts as a nostalgia experiment. 5. NYC’s line culture Is out of control — and getting worse (Marissa Matozzo for the New York Post. June 22, 2026.) I agree with the headline. But don’t read the article. I was expecting a fun article. Instead, I was assaulted by many variations of “it’s not this, but that” and lists of two and three things, often saying the same thing over and over. I’m not saying it’s this, but maybe it’s that. 6. The social contract of writing (Johanna Larson. May 25, 2026.) I am definitely not implying anything by linking to this very nice article against LLM-slop writing right after the fifth link. 7. Why the National Basketball Players Association is debuting a B2C brand (Alyssa Meyers for Marketing Brew. June 22, 2026.) Having read the article, I must confess that I have no idea what this brand actually is. You can reply to this article from your own site by sending a Webmention.

Back in _The New Leaf Journal’s_ early days, I had share buttons on my articles. I eventually removed them in part because I did not think they added anything useful to my site and in part because of a certain Pinterest incident. I had not thought about them in some time, but I nevertheless read Derek Hanson’s Nobody clicks your share buttons with interest (HT Ankur Sethi). Mr. Hanson cited to evidence that few people click share buttons because they can easily share links using native tools on their devices. Moreover, he noted what I learned back in 2020: Share buttons can add undesirable third party scripts to a site. Consider this a good read with the external resources even if you do not need to be convinced that share buttons are unnecessary. (See related discussion in The Emu Café and Blog Hospitality). You can reply to this article from your own site by sending a Webmention.